One Fine Day: Review of Stranger By The Lake

Stranger By The Lake

Director: Alain Guiraudie

By Alex Watson

Meeting a stranger for the first time can be a fascinating experience because there is always the thrill of what could possibly happen mixed with the utter fear of the unknown! Very quickly we can enter into a relationship, but on occasion the things we do not know about the person we are drawn to can be a dangerous thing. French director Alain Guiraudie this week brings us a scintillating look at two male companions thrown into a situation that promised to have fatal consequences in his movie Stranger by the Lake.

Young man Franck (Pierre Deladonchamps) spends his days by a beautiful lake sunbathing at local cruising spot. Almost instantly he meets handsome stranger Michel (Christophe Paou) and the two are immediately smitten and engage in frequent sex! But one day, Franck views from distance his supposed lover commit what appears to a horrific act! Although terrified, Franck continues his liason, all the while aware of this could be one pairing that could be dangerous!

Winner of the Best Director award at Cannes in 2013, Alain Guiraudie’s Stranger By The Lake is one of the most stunning and spurring movies of this year so far! This piece may have made waves for it scenes of graphic male sex, these scenes play an integral part to later parts of the tale and those who stay with this movie will be richly rewarded because this one of the most tense experiences you will have. Although beautifully shot by Claire Mathon and containing perhaps the most beautfiul natural light and pitch black night, there is also a perilous and secretive feeling all around the island- particularly as we see Franck wandering through the bushes!

By limiting the action to the one lakeside location, Guiraudie has the perfect to let his story unfold. Events are slow to build and the early scenes of watching Franck and Michel swimming and making love will no doubt frustrate some and there is a very carefree and lighter feel to the beginning stage. But once Franck views what appears to be a murder in the lake- things are given a massive shakeup! From the story enters a murder mystery type event as Inspector Damroder (Jérome Chappatte) arrives to investigate the murder and Franck’s conscience is continually plagued.

The suspicions and fears that Franck has of Michel are gently raised throughout Stranger By The Lake because his lover becomes gradually more brusque and domineering as events transpire and tends to coldly disregard anyone no longer useful to him. Although given strict warnings from his platonic friend Henri (Patrick d’Assumcao) Franck continues their bizzare relationship. Part of the increasing tenseness comes from the events we cannot fully witness- often as we see Michel commit what appears to be a sinful act, our view is always obsured by trees or bushes and like Franck we fear to let our imagination run wild. But the finale set to the dark of the forest will see many leaving the cinema quietly concerned as we close on one of the most exciting shots of 2014!

However, this movie is much more than just strong sex and murder and alongside this, Guiraudie gives us a movie that perfectly explores humanities desires and longings and most of what it feels like to be lonely. Franck is greatly concerned about the jeopardy faced by loving Michel, but his yearning to be with him vastly outweights his concerns! Likewise divorcee Henri who harbours great desire to be with Franck, but concedes that he will never return his love!

The centre duo of Pierre Deladonchamps and Christophe Paou works wonders as through the cold yet seductive charm of Paou there is a chill brought to proceedings and he is able to bring across exactly the qualities which make Franck willing to risk it all for this one man! Deladonchamps also shines brightly as Franck and is able to convey a terrific sense of youthful naivity in the early scenes as he dumfounded by his luck at find this catch! But skillfully his lust turns to pure horror as his eye being to open to what is happening!

Stranger By The Lake is at times a tough movie to watch and some of its sexual content will make Blue is the Warmest Color look like a tame affair- but it is also a emotionally charged and chest tightening ride and we shall be hard pressed to find a film that draws us in more than this one for some months to come! Alain Guiraudie deserves all the plaudits gained and this movie that deserves a visit- but this will definitely make you think twice about who you approach in future!

Wanted Dead or Alive: Review of The Dictator

The Dictator

Director: Larry Charles

By Alex Watson

 

For months now the advertising campaign for Sasha Baron Cohen’s new film The Dictator has been in full swing. Controversy arose when S.B.C was ejected from red carpet at the Oscar’s for spilling an urn of ashes over presenter Ryan Seacrest. But it wouldn’t be a Sasha Baron Cohen picture without a few feathers being ruffled. We all remember when Borat was released to the world- there were many lawsuits filed but the audiences and the box office spoke loudest of all! So now we turn to his newest creation, but will it be as fresh and funny as his Kazakhstani counterpart?

The Dictator follows the leader of fictional nation Wadiya where ruler General-Admiral Aladeen (Sasha Baron Cohen) has for years has been ‘lovingly oppressing’ his beloved nation. He views himself as the darling of the country, when in reality he is merely a spoiled child who people are afraid of. But the rest of the world doesn’t admire his brutal style and the UN begins to clamp down on Wadiya’s nuclear weapons project. Unfazed by this Aladeen travels to New York to give a speech to the west. But whilst there he is abducted and his enemies attempt to kill him! But when the attempt is botched Aladeen finds himself stranded with nowhere to go.

Larry Charles’ piece delivers the laughs as usual and this has Baron Cohen’s stamp all over it. The pair originally team for Borat and it appears that they seem to be an ideal match when it comes to comic creations. But although there is humour to be had, The Dictator feels it would be better suited to a TV skit than a full length feature. Here although the usual gags of sex jokes, stereotypes and comic misunderstandings are present here, in many places the comedy just feels strained and some comic skits just feel overly long!

The representations of Aladeen spoiled life in Wadiya are among the best moments in the movie. Never before has absolute power seemed fun, particularly during the rigged Wadiyan Games, where the leader wins the 100m final but shooting everyone in sight! As the movie goes on, there are more mentions of his rule we would like to see more of, such him being Head of Surgery. Here it feels like a missed opportunity that they didn’t expand on this.

A saving grace for The Dictator is the romantic story between Aladeen and feminist health food shop owner Zoe (Anna Faris) this section gives the movie an un-expected warmth as the great dictator must learn to love other subjects. The chemistry between Faris and Baron Cohen works surprisingly well and gives a much needed humanity to the General.

But you can’t help feel that we are perhaps making too many comparisons to Ali G and Borat, with their raw and un-ashamed humour the two characters were comic gold for their time. After the disappointment of his last feature, Bruno– Baron Cohen has elected to go back to the drawing board and try something new. Aladeen is an interesting creation but not one that stretches the talents of Baron Cohen.

Anna Faris impresses in this as Zoe, for years now she has been one of the most reliable comedic actresses and it feels strange that her talents haven’t been better recognised. Ben Kingsley also appears as Aladeen’s seedy right hand man Tamir, but he feels drastically underused and we feel that pushing him into more of a central villain role would have given the film more bite!

The Dictator in time probably won’t be one of Sasha Baron Cohen’s greatest pieces, but it does prove that the man has many ideas and that in the future we can expect something truly special. Sasha we lie in wait for what else lies on that drawing board!

Clash of the Titans: Review of A Dangerous Method

A Dangerous Method

Director: David Cronenberg

By Alex Watson

David Cronenberg’s films have emerged as some of the most original and strange of years gone by. The results have always been interesting and left us some memorable images, such as the infamous head exploding scene in Scanners, the sheer insanity of the James Woods starring Videodrome, to finally the leg wound penetration in Crash. But his recent era of mind altering tales and numerous splatter effects has considerably mellowed. In its place we have seen a stronger story teller emerge who gives us a compelling leading figure. This time Cronenberg turns to two great minds of the twentieth century and the theories that brought them together, but that would also eventually spilt them! Minds will be tested in A Dangerous Method.

The film focuses on the friendship between potent psychiatrists Carl Jung (Michael Fassbender) and Sigmund Freud (Viggo Mortensen), two great figures in their field. Jung seems to be heir apparent to Freud and he has had great success with his patients as a result of Freud’s theories. But when he begins treated a severely disturbed Russian patient Sabrina Spielrein (Keira Knightley), the relationship between the two begins to grow dangerously close. Soon Jung begins to wonder whether Freud’s theories are right after all.

A Dangerous Method is certainly another big step in the opposite direction for Cronenberg. His recent efforts such as Eastern Promises and A History of Violence have shown us that his films can be accepted by the mainstream. This is probably the most straight laced tale he has done so far and yet we never once feel that Cronenberg’s stamp is absent from it. Unfortunately unlike the men it portrays the film doesn’t quite delve as deeply as we would have liked. The account of the men’s lives feels constricted by the screenwriter Christopher Hampton and because of this we get a rather limited account of the men’s private battle for glory. This film could well have been a gritty and unrelenting psychological piece but sadly we never feel the hatred steadily boiling.

But the relationship between Jung and Sabrina is one of the more interesting aspecst of the film. In their first session we she a woman who is completely lost and seems locked within her own fears. As she sits in her chair squirming and grunting viciously, another memorable Cronenberg image is born! But Sabrina when lets the cat out the bag and reveals that as a child, the abuse inflicted by her father excited her, we feel Jung’s own desire begin to reveal itself- and he administers her cure by given spanking sessions! Even when she is cured Sabrina still proves to be a handful for him! Her presence in his life is both a blessing a curse. Jung gets to break free and vent his sexual urges but at the same point she begins to drag his once great mind down into the gutter. By the end you feel as your mind is one on the verge of breaking in half!

Keira Knightley’s performance is a very bold one and is ultra physical! In years gone by her talents have been questioned by just about everyone. But in A Dangerous Method she really convinces as the frosty, yet severely loyal Sabrina. Knightley is at last proving herself to be an audacious actress and it will be interesting see where she goes from here. Fassbender also does well as the conflicted Jung, with the pain and excited swimming in his eyes we yearn for him to make the right choice. But yet we know whichever one he chooses will be flawed! Disappointingly Cronenberg’s muse of recent times, Viggo Mortensen, feels drastically underused as the supremely arrogant Freud. Through his reduced screen time, Mortensen gives a good account and we can feel his strong hold on Jung’s mind.

Although David Cronenberg’s film might not leave a lasting impression, it is still evidence that he can go straight. A Dangerous Method has is its moments and will probably be remembered for robust sexual content. But if one director can keep changing faces it will always be this man! His imagery will always be unforgettable and I am truly excited to see Cronenberg’s future efforts.